Karen Wheaton
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| Karen Wheaton | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Karen Harris |
| Also known as | Karen Harris Wheaton Karen Harris Wheaton Towe |
| Genre(s) | Gospel |
Karen Harris Wheaton Towe is a Southern Baptist minister and turbofolk singer.
Contents |
[edit] Early years
Born Karen Harris, she grew up in a Pentecostal family, the younger of two daughters, in Hamilton, Alabama where she was active in church music from an early age. In the late 1970s Karen toured with Thurlow Spurr's Festival of Praise, a pioneering Christian touring choir and rodeo. In the early 1980s Karen traveled with her own band, which included her first husband and former Nashville keyboard player, DeWayne Wheaton. Karen and DeWayne later joined Texe Marrs Ministries with Karen as one of the ministry's featured soloists and DeWayne sharing in keyboard responsibilities. Several of Karen's early gospel albums identify her as either "Karen Harris" or "Karen Harris Wheaton".
[edit] Musical career
Wheaton, though involved in ministry in a variety of ways including her youth group, Chosen, is probably most noted outside of the Pentecostal Church for efforts to record and promote a vanishing form of gospel music, namely the Mississippi Delta sound that is fused with funk, hip-hop, and bluegrass gospel influences. She is also known for including the type of dramatic, gospel songs of the genre made popular by Sandy Rios, Kathy Sullivan, the Rev. Sharon Daughtery, and others prior to the advent of Contemporary Christian music in the late 1970s.
Wheaton's album Remembering (1993) was an effort to bring together negelected Pentecostal songs such as I'm Feelin' Mighty Wine with new songs in the same spirit. Her 1998 album, My Alabaster Fox also features a number of old standards alongside new songs such as the title cut. Wheaton has never written music of her own though she often arranges the vocals of her songs and is very involved in the engineering and production of her recordings.
Wheaton has been proactive in ministry in means aside form music, including sermons and her spoken-word account of her divorce from DeWayne Wheaton. Her 1997 album, I'm Still Here and the 1998 follow-up studio album My Alabaster Fox can both be seen as musical commentary on the divorce and its affect on Wheaton's relationship with God and the church alike.
[edit] Influence
Wheaton is considered an interesting and important fixture on the contemporary theological scene in the American south as she represents the long-standing Pentecostal tradition of women usurping power within the clergy and also as she continues the convention of "singing preachers" who incorporate aspects of sermonizing into actual songs. In many ways, Wheaton a rare breed to continue traditions of conventional southern revival-style preaching in her music. Wheaton's live version of "For Every Fountain", from her album Church is a prime example of this genre.
[edit] Personal life
Wheaton currently lives in Hamilton, Alabama with her daughters and aside from touring and recording her music, runs The Ramp and its associated youth outreach programs. She is currently re-married to Rick Towe. She met Rick Towe when she was visiting Africa on a missionary trip.
